You were caught in a downpour and/or snowstorm on your way home from work. Act fast and do as follows.

Stuff your shoes with crumpled-up newspaper and dry slowly, away from direct heat. Before they're entirely dry, insert cedar shoe trees to make sure they dry out evenly and maintain their shape.

Wet shoes: Stuff soaking-wet shoes with newspaper and dry them away from direct heat. Direct heat can dry the leather too fast, causing it to crack — and once that happens, nothing can save your shoes.

Salt stains: The traditional remedy for road-salt stains is a little vinegar and water, applied sparingly.

Emergency Measures and Long-Term Care for Shoes:

Shoe trees: Shoe trees are crucial. They allow your recently worn shoes to contract and dry out to their ideal shape — but only if you choose the less decorative unvarnished ones. Varnished trees look posh, but they don't properly draw moisture — i.e., sweat — out of the leather. Top marks go to unfinished cedar models with a split toe and a fully shaped heel: These ensure the closest possible fit between shoe and tree. Also, there's no need to own a pair of trees for each pair of shoes. The vital time for using them is the hour or two after you have removed the shoes from your feet. After that, the shoes will have returned to their natural architecture and the trees can be removed.

Repair work: Invest as much care in choosing a cobbler to resole or reheel your shoes as you did in repurchasing them. And to prevent permanent damage (or, at least, the outrageous repair costs), have all work done before it's absolutely necessary.

Suede: Suede shoes are in a category of their own, since you cannot polish away any scuff marks. Use a suede eraser (basically a brick of crumbly rubber) to rub away small blemishes. Then use a suede brush to restore the nap, or fuzz, of the leather.

What to Do About Smelly Shoes:

Prevention: Wash your feet more often and wash your socks even more often, and don't wear the same pair of shoes every day. (Ideally, have three interchangeable pairs of dress shoes.) Also, try inserting unvarnished cedar shoe trees into just-removed shoes. They'll absorb perspiration, deodorize the shoes, and straighten them out after daily wear.
Cure: Change your insoles, or better, take your shoes to a cobbler to have the insoles replaced. Beyond that, contact your local exorcist.

How to Whiten Your Shoes:

Leather sneaker: For scuff marks, try swabbing with nail-polish remover and then wiping clean. If the whole shoe starts yellowing or darkening, spray with a 50/50 mixture of water and lemon juice and let sit in the sun for a full day.

Canvas sneaker: The 50/50 mixture of water and lemon juice works for canvas, too, but for more serious stains, mix a tablespoon of baking soda with a touch of water and rub the sticky paste onto the offending spots. Wipe dry. Or try a whitening polish like Hollywood Sani-White.

Leather shoe: For lighter scuff marks, lightly rub a pencil eraser against the area. Still dirty? Hollywood Sani-White and similar polishes work, too. But if the shoes were never white to begin with, try slapping on a fresh coat of matte white latex paint.

A Note About Shoes as Investments:

Cheap shoes are a false bargain. They're made of glue, rubber, and low-grade leather, which often bears scars from shrubs, trees, and barbed wire (the normal hazards of bovine life), and which is rejected out of hand by reputable shoemakers. Good shoes begin with great leather, period. Be prepared to pay for it. Of course, once you have invested your hard-earned cash in a quality pair, you're going to want to hang on to them. Put a little time and effort into looking after them and they'll last longer than any three pairs of cheap clodhoppers.

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